Environmental illness, diagnosis

Jewett DL. Diagnosis and treatment of hypersensitivity syndrome. In KM Rest (ed.), Toxicology and human health, advancing the understanding of multiple chemical sensitivity, Proceedings of the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics (AOEC) Workshop on Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Washington, DC, September 1991, pp. Ill 23. 

A thorough history that elicits details of appropriate exposure (eg, laboratories, animals, animal products, or environmental exposure to locations inhabited by potentially infected animals) is the most important diagnostic tool. Brucellosis should also be strongly considered in differential diagnosis of febrile illness if troops have been exposed to a presumed biological attack. Polymerase chain reaction and antibody-based antigen detection systems may demonstrate the presence of the organism in environmental samples collected from the attack area. 

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